||Srimad Bhagavatha Mahapuran||

|| Om Namo Bhagavathe Vasudevaya||

Chapter – 2 - The piousness of the recitation of Srimad Bhagavath Mahapuran

Once Maharishi Narada visited various sacred lands on the Mrithyuloka/ Earth, places like Prayaga, Himalayas, Rameshwaram, Mathura, Dwaraka, Brindavan finally he reached at Badrikashram.  In  Rishikesh, Narada met the Santhkumaras who are the Manasa Putra of Lord Bhrama.  They asked  Maharishi Narada about the reason for the gloominess on his face.  Maharishi Narada said “ Oh! Sages, I am not concerned about myself, I am worried about the living beings on the Earth, I have been to various sacred places on the Earth,  people have lost interest in performing religious duties, they are not following the Dharma, there is no true devotion or love for the supreme Lord.  I have visited Brindavan, the holiest land on Earth, the birthplace of Lord Krishna. At the river banks of Yamuna, I met a beautiful woman who was having two elderly persons on her lap, she was weeping bitterly, I have asked her the reason for her sorrow and enquired about the elderly persons on her side. She answered me that she is ‘Bhakti’/devotion personified; the two elderly men are her sons, Gnana/wisdom and Vairagya/renunciation/abandonment.  Further, Bhakti continued that she was born in the Dravida Desha/South India, she had spent her childhood in Karnataka, then she moved to Maharashtra and spend youthful days in there, when she arrived in Gujarat she became old, then she moved to Brindavan, soon her children Gyana and Vairagya became too old, when she reached in Vrindavan, she has got back her youthfulness at the river banks of Yamuna, but her sons remained the same.  In fact, she was followed by her sister Moksha to Mrithyuloka, but she was reluctant to live in this world, she returned to her celestial abode at the beginning of Kaliyuga itself.   Bakthi requested me to bring back her sons to their youthful forms.  I have performed fire sacrifices, various religious rites, and recitation of Veda at the divine instruction, but nothing did work on the two elderly sons of Bhakti.  I am worried about them all, that is why I came to meet you.  Illustrious Sages, kindly advise me on how to bring back the youthfulness of Gnana and Vairagya.”  After listening to Maharishi Narada, the four sons of Lord Bhrama replied “ Maharishi, we have thoroughly analyzed the situation of Bhakti and her children, mere recitation of Veda will not make any difference, therefore we are required to perform ‘Bhagavatha Sapthaham’ reciting the glorious birth and various pastimes of Lord Krishna for a week.  Kindly make arrangements to recite the sacred scripture “Srimad Bhagavath Puran’,  we shall bring back the youthfulness of Gnana and Vairagya once again.” Maharishi Narada informed his helplessness to organize a huge event like ‘Bhagavatha Sapthaham’, he has no resource to arrange for a great event, he is living on alms.  Sanathkumaras advised Maharishi to go to a place in between Haridwar and Rishikesh, there is a dense forest located on the river banks of Ganga called Naimisharanya.  Maharishi Narada arrived in Naimisharanya, all the arrangements were made for the recitation of Srimad Bhagavath, three seats were provided for Bakthi, Gnana, and Vairagya, the recitation of the sacred scriptures began, it continued for seven days.  Alas! At the end of the seventh day, with  the grace of supreme Lord the Rishis, Sages assembled were in a state of transcendental, Bhakti, Gnana and Vairagya got rejuvenated and brought back to their youthfulness.